ChupaChup

It sure sounds like DSH's Ceylon the way you describe it. She uses two types of labels, one is round paper with handwriting, the others look machine-printed and are clear plastic.

I put on Hymn when I need a good . Most scents with frankincense always make me a little sad.

Black Opal is just one of those scents you are going to have to try for yourself . Despite all the reviews here (and it turns out they are all correct), I still was not prepared for what this was going to smell like, it's just so different. I'll repeat what others have said though I doubt it will make much difference - it's a clean musk, some light note that might be vanilla and a mineral smell. It smells like pure talc, not baby powder per se. Very clean and pretty. If it had more body and throw, I would consider keeping it but I've passed it on.

The Queen of Hearts is a very pretty floral on me. I wish I got a little bit of cherry but I can't detect any at all. This is somewhat reminiscent of Regan as far as a sweet floral goes. It's just not something I would wear very often though.

Aw, too bad, I was hoping for so much from Bengal, especially considering the rave reviews. I've been trying for ages to find the perfect chai tea scent but this doesn't do it for me. There is something off about the honey in this, it never ends up smelling like honey and honey is usually a great note on me. Maybe there is too much pepper? I can smell the other spice notes, the ginger, cinnamon and clove, but the pepper seems to be the strongest. After a couple of hours, this ends up smelling a lot like Chimera but I prefer Chimera, it's sweeter and prettier.

Old Scratch is amazing . I too was afraid of the lavender and it is strong at first, giving this a men's cologne feel, but it calms down very quickly and just blends in with all the other notes. This is similar to Wilde but without the strong lime/citron note. My only complaint is that my skin eats up amber and this blend doesn't last long on me. But it lasts well on my boyfriend so I'll be getting a bottle of it for him. I'm sure I will be borrowing it from time to time.

I have a feeling there is some floral note in Al-Shairan that isn't listed because the listed notes all work on me in other blends. But there is something a little funky underneath everything. Yes, there's that pomander, orange spice thing others are detecting. But maybe some jasmine or gardenia? Or Beth is using a new orange blossom that doesn't work on me? I'll be swapping this one.

ETA: I forgot to mention, at one point this smelled like spaghetti and meatballs on me.

It took me a long time to get around to trying Psyche and I'm so glad I did. I was worried about the lavender, which can be sharp and astringent on me. But in this blend, it's softened immediately by the creamy white musk. Eventually it tones down even more to allow some rose to peek through. The scent pretty much faded away after about an hour although I could detect it if I jammed my nose to my wrist. But wow, after five hours, the orchid came out and it was very strong! What a lovely surprise, I really like this scent .

My girlfriend got her order of Numb before I got mine and as soon as I smelled it on her, I knew I wasn't going to like it. I tried it on myself and yup, it was awful. It smells exactly like this baby powder scented air freshener my parents always had in the bathrooms with just a touch of what it was used to cover up. Ew. Luckily my girlfriend loves it and she swapped me for mine before I even got it. Whew.

You're welcome . Ooo, I thought of another good one. Have you tried The Red Queen?

Deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant.

The wood notes really tone down the sweetness of the cherries and currant, it really does make you think of polished wood.

I was wondering what ones there are similar to Kabuki, but not quite as sweet.  I like how strong the cherry is, but it's a bit sweet for my tastes.

 

Thanks.

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Sounds like Kyoto would be perfect for you. It has the same cherry and anise as Kabuki but it has sandalwood instead of red musk so it's not nearly as sweet at Kabuki

They are different in the beginning but after drydown, Love in the Asylum and Black Phoenix are very similar. I love them both!

I'm totally is lust with Love in the Asylum . When this was announced, I immediately ordered 2 bottles, every single note is something I love. I was a little worried when some of the early reviewers found it to be a mostly rose perfume - I love rose but I wanted the other notes, especially the ambergris, vanilla, tobacco leaf, carnation and tonka. Yahoo, I get them all though the amazing morph of this perfume!

When first applied, I get something quite green from this perfume, it must be the rose because it's almost that florist's fridge smell I get from Rose Red. But that's about it for me and the roses in this blend, after that they recede way into the background. The next phase I get is an orchide vanille phase (*swoon*), just like Regan without the stephanotis. I don't think there is any orchid in this blend, it must be some combination of other notes with the vanilla but it's gorgeous. Then there is just this wonderful melange of the ambergris, tobacco, carnation and tonka, all flitting in and out, it's so hypnotic. Eventually this dries down to something very much like the drydown of Black Phoenix (once the almond has burned off).

Great waft, seems to be pretty long lasting. I've had it on for 3 hours now and it's still going strong. This is just one of those wonderful oils, you know how you know as soon as you open the bottle, it just fits you? Great job Beth .

Like Graveyard Dirt and Rose red, this is one of those blends where Beth seems to have put something in a blender and poured it into a bottle and said 'here ya go!"

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My reaction exactly! Popcorn right out of the blender. The amazing thing is, to my nose anyway, it's not even the smell of real butter, it's the smell of that butter "topping" they use at the movie theater! I really like this, my only problem is it doesn't last well on me. But boy, this would be great in an oil burner if you ever want to sell your house .

Welcome to the forum jewelbug ! My skin seems to amp up fig and it gets kind of woody on me, even without the cedary notes of Intrigue so I'm not sure these recommendations will do the same on you. But... Freak Show, which is part of Carnaval Noir and still available, ended up smelling very similar to Intrigue on me. Eden is a catolog scent that ended up that way as well but was kind of a wild ride on the way! It's very popular right now so you may also enjoy it.

This is mostly just tobacco on me. I'm really not getting any of the other notes and they sounded so good. I definitely prefer Hellfire for a tobacco scent though, that one has a lot more body and Medicine Show is very faint.

I like Gypsy Queen quite a bit, it really does have that candle smoke smell at first. The incense notes remind me of the incense in Athens and Cairo and the myrrh comes out the strongest in the drydown. The other notes kind of swirl around in the background and it's really hard to pick them out individually. I will probably end up swapping this scent though since the strong myrrh disagrees with my boyfriend and friends. Even though I like it, I won't want to wear it around anyone and listen to their complaints.

I got my bottle of Snake Charmer yesterday and it's definitely Snake Charmer, it smells just like the description. I was worried about the plum, another fruit that doesn't play nice with me, and it did kind of scream on my skin at first. Then after about 10 minutes, the other creamy notes, the musk and the spices all come out and this scent becomes truly hypnotic. I even get the tiniest hint of coconut but if I hadn't seen it in the description I probably wouldn't have picked it out so if coconut scares you, still give this one a try. The only problem is that the plum comes back later on. It's not too bad but I have a feeling this is a scent that I won't want to wear very much because of it. It's so weird, this is a scent I could go either way on - order another bottle or swap it away. I'll wait to decide.

Freak Show was something I took a chance on, fig is one of those fruits that can be overwhelming on me. It started out great when first applied, I got plenty of chocolate, some vanilla and the honey musk. But after only about five minutes, the fig grabbed hold and started beating down all the other notes. This ended up smelling just like Intrigue or Eden on me, pure fig. And it's the green, almost woody fig, not a sweet, ripe, honeyed one. Oh well, it's already winging it's way to a home where it will be loved.

I love both GP and Shub ! But I have to give the edge to Shub, at least right now, for being less foody and more exotic in the drydown. That may change when winter comes around though, GP might come out on top then .

It must be a body chemistry thing because O simply vanishes on me after only an hour - with slathering.

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Same here. I think it's the BPAL amber as just about every BPAL scent with it vanishes on me in under an hour.

Dragon's Tears is exactly like its description, right down to the bittersweet part. It's amazing how Beth gets the salt into her scents, I never really thought of it as having a smell before. Unfortunately, there is a battle raging on my skin between the bitter and the sweet in this scent and the bitter seems to be winning. Off to swaps.

My friend was gifted with an imp of Brimstone and let me try it. I really only got two notes out of this, dirt and ginger, hot, dry ginger with not a drop of sweetness. It smells very ashy and hot, absolutely a perfect representation of the inspiration. Not something I would wear as a perfume but amazing nonetheless.

Sri Lanka is a lot lighter and softer that I was expecting. It's a woody, smoky scent for sure but it's so barely there. It does sweeten somewhat over time but never gets much body. Maybe it would develop more in an oil burner.

I got to try my friend's Honey Moon. As much as I love honey, I didn't order this blend because 1) I've given up on lunar oils and 2) jasmine and gardenia are not good on me. But wow, Honey Moon is not bad at all! I do not get even one single second of the jasmine or gardenia. It's mostly honey and a kind of new car or leather smell, something a little bitter, I wonder if that's the thyme? I never detect any lunar notes either. Eventually, this dries down and smells just like Beth's honey single note on me. A lot more beeswaxy and less honey that I like and not much throw. Glad I got to try it though.